Rich Froning AND Jason Khalipa?!

So we all know that Rich Froning has been saying 2014 was his last year competing as an individual. He has said he wants to spend time doing other things, like spending time with his new daughter. Maybe working out four or five times a day, seven days a week isn’t the most healthy thing? If he ever returns to competing individually in CrossFit, who knows.

But now Jason Khalipa is also retiring from competing as an individual? The guy who says he trains the way he does simply because he loves it. I haven’t read anywhere that his daughters would keep him from his garage for a late night WOD. His first daughter didn’t stop him, but now his second will? Or whatever his reasoning.

I applaud anyone who puts his or her family first. I can’t hate on either of these guys for that (if this is Khalipa’s reasoning). But I can’t help think that Dave Castro wants to do whatever he can to absolutely squash the National Pro Grid League (I can’t even type that without wondering what in the F a “grid league” is…and I know what it is – worst. name. ever.). The NPGL is team based and it is poaching highly recognizable CrossFit athletes. Valenzuela, Ben Smith, Sidelle, Hackenbruck, the list goes on and on.

Castro’s ego cost him relationships with Greg Everett and Robb Wolf and any guys who has to change t-shirts every time he makes an appearance, even if those appearances are just an hour apart, and seemingly puts entirely too much emphasis on his hair – rubs me the wrong way. His ego is very large and since the CrossFit community has glossed him “THE Dave Castro” he just cannot bear to lose any of his spotlight. Spotlight that may be stolen by the NPGL.

Enter Froning and Khalipa and possibly super-mega-CrossFit Games teams. I can’t recall where I saw it or read it, but someone asked Froning if he would invite some of the best female athletes in the world to workout at his box in Tennessee to get around the rules to form a super team for the CrossFit Games season – he said he would without a doubt.

Enter my conspiracy theory: Castro has asked both Froning and Khalipa to go team and form super teams. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one more big name athlete go team in 2015 and have a team with three, four or maybe even six individual Games athletes on it. Start publicizing that immediately. Along with the US vs Europe competition there will be other team based CrossFit competitions. Maybe not the same format as the NPGL has with their grid, but team based CrossFit competitions. The same team in each event. Khalipa has a West coast team, Froning is Central or East coast. Maybe Camille starts a Canadian team. These are all the biggest of big names in CrossFit who haven’t signed with the NPGL and they all happen to be buddies with Castro and CrossFit HQ.

Put together a few super CrossFit teams, put a few matches of some sort on the internet and try to squash the NPGL before it takes off. Just like how the UFC started putting out free fights the same night as Strikeforce had pay-per view events. Strikeforce was just starting to embark on UFC territory and the Dana White made sure that didn’t happen by offering free fights on Spike TV the same time Strikeforce had fights on PPV. And the UFC didn’t put up no-names, it put its biggest fighters on TV – for free! Will we see Team Froning vs Team Khalipa aired on the internet the same time the NPGL has matches?